"I know, and he taught you all those old songs." He replied.
"It was passed down from his father to him. It's been in the family for generations, he told me. Usually it would've been passed down to his grand son but my mom only had-" Toshi saw her face pale and he stared at her for a moment, making sure she was okay. "Me. She only had me."
"Okay." He replied. He was still watching her mindfully, to see where her boundaries were. "Tell me more."
"Well, Baba used to live in the house just behind us and when things were bad at home I would always run to him if I needed protection..." Her vision trailed off into a memory, something she didn't want to remember.
Sisu held her little sisters hand tightly as she ran down the side walk to get to their Baba's home. Their step fathers cries of rage could be heard from behind them. She looked down at her sister, her magenta hair flying in the wind. He had given the girl a black eye! Oh she wanted to kill him, she was six! Six! The white hot anger boiling inside her charged her feet to move faster, making it harder for her to keep up. Her scared, electric blue eyes looked up at her helplessly and Sisu was determined to get her to Babas safely.
The lights were off, Baba must be asleep. Her foot reached for the first step to his porch and a hand roughly grabbed her by the neck. There, staring back at her were a pair of silver eyes engulfed with hatred. Sisu audibly gulped and let her sisters wrist go, she knew what to do. Their step father couldn't catch them both and the girls knew that.
When her step father caught the little one rushing inside, he dropped Sisu and came towards her. "NO!" Sisu blasted him in the back with her purple light, burning a huge hole in his shirt. He looked back at her, advancing with calculated steps to beat her in the street.
Her sister looked on, "Leave Sisu alone!"
"Lux, go inside-ahh!" Her face was met with his fist, it rearing back to do it again. She glanced back at her again, she didn't move. She was paralyzed by fear, "Lux, go inside now-" that blow made her dizzy, she felt a little relieved...at least he wasn't hitting Lux. With one hand on her throat and the other, reloading the next hit, Sisu caught his fist, her hand glowing from her quirk and burning him once more. Lux's quirk didn't show up yet, they didn't know why but it was up to Sisu to protect her at all costs, even if the ways she defended her caused everything to become worse.
"Get inside, Lux! Please!" She cried.
"Sisu!" Lux cried, seeing her big sister fall unconscious from the repeated blows to her face. She looked up at the stars, the sounds of her father and Lux shouting getting silent. Everything paused for the briefest moment, her vision blurred until everything twisted into blackness....
"Sisu." Toshi's voice plucked her from her flashback and she refocused her eyes to his face. "What happened, you started to stare out into space." He looked at her with profound concern. She blinked a few times and smiled to deflect the worry written on his face. "I'm okay."
"Care to tell? Where were you?"
"Just a...memory, I used to hide out at Babas when things were rough. He would wake up from his sleep, no matter how late the hour was and put on cartoons, wrap me in a blanket and cuddle me until I fell asleep." She hugged herself, feeling the cozy feeling it gave her as she remembered. She glanced up at Toshi, she did owe him a happy memory and in truth it was but it almost always followed a bad one.
Toshi leaned his arms on his knees, deep in thought. What do you say from such a memory? He glanced at her and saw the look on her face, "A dark forest still sees moonlight, at dusk the sun casts on dew, a good thing in the midst of sad times is a sign that someone loves you." He said, staring at her reaction.
"That sounds pretty. Do you make that up?"
"No" he chuckled. "It's an ancient quote from some prophet I read about back in college. It just means, good will always be there, even in the worst times."
"...I like that." Her smile returned to her face. "I like that a lot actually."
Toshi's stomach growled, placing a hand on it as if the sound reverberated against the walls. "I think it's lunch time, kid."
"Okay, let's go." She hopped up and pulled Toshi to his feet.
"Okay, my turn to surprise you, right?" He asked.
"Yep."
"I know just the place." He smirked deviously as they walked. The sun was high in the sky now, a lovely shade of blue above. Tokyo was bustling with busy people, Sisu staying close to Toshi for safety. He could've swore she almost clutched his arm to keep from being swept away in the sea of people. He placed a hand on her back, gently pushing her forward to meet his pace. The place wasn't too far for them to walk there. It would be a waste to drive the car only a couple blocks.
"What's this place called, huh?" She asked.
"You'll see." He said, turning a corner making sure she followed him.
"But I told you my place." She almost whined.
"Patience, Sisu. We're almost there." He turned a couple times and then they were standing in front of it, King of Pirates. Sisu burst out laughing, "really?"
"Yeah, it's the closest place that came to mind." He laughed with her. "It'll be fun, let's get inside." They walked in and were seated right away. A pirate took their orders in the most convincing accent and they waited.
"What an element of surprise you've got. I'll have to step up my game next time."